The advancement of waste reuse and conversion practices by waste management groups in the indigenous communities of Bushbuckridge local municipality, South Africa

The role of indigenous knowledge systems has been studied in environmental management; however, to date, there is a notable gap in research focusing on the advancement of indigenous waste management, particularly the reuse and conversion practices within rural communities. Although the United Nations advances indigenous knowledge as a fundamental knowledge system in achieving sustainable development, the specific role of such knowledge in advancing community waste management practices within the scientific literature remains overlooked. Against this backdrop, the current study investigated the advancement of waste reuse and conversion practices among waste management groups in the indigenous communities of the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality (BLM), South Africa. A descriptive case study approach was used to engage nine (9) purposively selected indigenous waste management groups of communities in BLM. Consequently, data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires and analysed through thematic analysis. The findings revealed a diverse composition of general waste types across BLM communities, with plastic waste reported as the most frequently generated (89%), followed by glass (45%), and thereafter food and paper (each at 22%). Interestingly, the reuse practices were most prevalent for food waste (100%), plastic (89%), paper (67%), and metal (78%), while conversion methods included composting and jewellery and toy making. The study concludes that while indigenous waste practices contribute significantly to waste diversion, sustainable waste management in BLM requires the integration of modern recycling technologies, capacity-building, and policy inclusion to maximize the application of these methods on a larger scale that yields significant environmental and socio-economic outcomes.